- published: 15 Dec 2014
- views: 3419
Farm to School is a program in the United States through which schools buy and feature locally produced, farm-fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables, eggs, honey, meat, and beans on their menus. Schools also incorporate nutrition-based curriculum and provide students with experiential learning opportunities such as farm visits, garden-based learning, and recycling programs. As a result of Farm to School, students have access to fresh, local foods, and farmers have access to new markets through school sales. Farmers are also able to participate in programs designed to educate kids about local food and agriculture.
Currently, school lunches are generally designed according to the guidelines put out by the USDA National School Lunch Program (NSLP). More than half of US children participate daily, which translates to approximately 28 million lunches distributed per day. The nutritional guidelines for the NSLP lunches are based on "Dietary Recommendations for Americans" composed by the Institute of Medicine. Its requirements are that a school lunch includes one third of the RDA of calories, vitamins A and C, calcium and iron, and protein. Additionally, the lunch should contain no more than 30% of the total calories from fat, and no more than 10% from saturated fat. The guidelines provide unclear recommendations on fruit, vegetable, whole grain, sodium content. In general, the guidelines leave room for interpretation and do not always lead to the creation of health meals. For example, in several schools pizza counts as a vegetable due to its tomato sauce.
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students (or "pupils") under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools. The names for these schools vary by country (discussed in the Regional section below) but generally include primary school for young children and secondary school for teenagers who have completed primary education. An institution where higher education is taught, is commonly called a university college or university.
In addition to these core schools, students in a given country may also attend schools before and after primary and secondary education. Kindergarten or pre-school provide some schooling to very young children (typically ages 3–5). University, vocational school, college or seminary may be available after secondary school. A school may also be dedicated to one particular field, such as a school of economics or a school of dance. Alternative schools may provide nontraditional curriculum and methods.
A farm is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used for specialised units such as arable farms, vegetable farms, fruit farms, dairy, pig and poultry farms, and land used for the production of natural fibres, biofuel and other commodities. It includes ranches, feedlots, orchards, plantations and estates, smallholdings and hobby farms, and includes the farmhouse and agricultural buildings as well as the land. In modern times the term has been extended so as to include such industrial operations as wind farms and fish farms, both of which can operate on land or sea.
Farming originated independently in different parts of the world as hunter gatherer societies transitioned to food production rather than food capture. It may have started about 12,000 years ago with the domestication of livestock in the Fertile Crescent in western Asia, soon to be followed by the cultivation of crops. Modern units tend to specialise in the crops or livestock best suited to the region, with their finished products being sold for the retail market or for further processing, with farm products being traded around the world.
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Food is playing a new role in schools. For the past five years, Andrew has been the District Partner for Denver Public Schools and JeffCo Schools helping to source local fruits, vegetables and meats for the cafeterias, to develop scratch cooking and salad bars in schools, and the development of school farms to grow organic vegetables for school kitchens. Andrew is a Hall of Fame Chef with Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters program and was one of 6 chefs invited to the White House in 2010 to help develop the Chefs Move to Schools Program. Andrew has been a culinary professional for over 30 years. He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Iowa in 1991. About TEDx, x = independently or...
In this video, the first in a five-part series, farm to school practitioners from across the country talk about the impacts their programs are having on students, farmers, the environment, and the local economy. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD)or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay).
Wenatchee School District Food Services Farm to Schools program. Helping Students Fall in Love with Real Foods Everyday Video by: http://north40productions.com
Getting your children to follow a healthy diet can sometimes be a real challenge. School officials in Madison, Wisconsin decided to bring chefs into the classroom and let students prepare foods. The goal is to help them better understand what goes into a good meal, and expose their taste buds to other options. Please visit our website at http://americasheartland.org/
Atlanta Farm to School presents the Edgewood Farm crew at the Coan Middle School EdibleSchoolyard. This program allows students from the neighborhood to learn to grow, harvest and sell foods on a 1/2 acre of land in the city. Kyla Zaro-Moore manages the programs providing the students the opportunity to understand the importance of sustainably grown foods.
Changing institutions can be very difficult. Minneapolis school food service serves over 3 million lunches every year to students across the city. Many schools don't have kitchens, just areas to open cases and serve the food. School food revolutionary Bertrand Weber is looking to change that. He's trying to get more fresh real food into classrooms. We follow MPS food service into the farms they source from to understand how they are changing school food.
Maryland's Farm to School Program strives to bring locally produced foods into school cafeterias; provide hands-on learning activities such as farm visits, producers visiting schools, school gardening, and culinary classes; and integrate food-related education into the standards-based classroom curriculum. See more at: http://mda.maryland.gov/farm_to_school/Pages/farm_to_school.aspx
Farm to School (F2S) is a mutually beneficial partnership between NC schools and NC farmers. At its most basic level, the F2S program in North Carolina is a strategy to get fresh, local produce to NC students. F2S can also include taking students on farm field trips, creating school gardens, teaching cooking classes, and even offering nutrition education. How do schools participate in Farm to School? Its easy for a school to get involved in F2S! Some schools participate by working directly with local farmers in their communities. Others work through community organizations that seek to connect farmers with schools such as the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) (www.growingminds.org). However, the majority of schools participate in Farm to School through the North Caroli...
Georgia Agriculture Education Celebrates National Farm to School Week
farm to school
Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Grant Non Competitive Food webinar